Dry Rock cured

[hrdneglcry]

Is rock that had been sitting out in a garage for a long time dry, and probably cooked in the summer; completely cured? I mean everything is dry, and dead. Is it cured?

 

[jmack]

I would say it's dead base rock.

 

[SaltyDr]

It's not cured at all. It's dead. It will need to be cured before it goes in to your tank. Make sure you seed it with live live rock. Scrub down the dead rock and put it in a rubbermaid with SW, a powerhead and heater. Add some live rock and you are good to go.

 

[hrdneglcry]

Will it make my tank spike if I do not cure it first?

 

[alexb518]

I'm not 100% sure of the answer, b/c i've never actually done this. But, the ammonia spike you would normally see is caused by the die off. and in your case, you should not see a die off since the rock is already dead. You really don't need to seed it either. Drop it in, and if you wanna get the ball rolling, go to the grocery store and drop in a piece or two of raw, uncooked shrimp. That will get the ammonia to spike, etc. If your tank is up and running, i don't see why it would be a problem to just throw it in. I would, however, throw it in a bucket with a few powerheads to get the spiders out. someone else might have a better answer b/c, like i said, i've never actually done this. but, that was just my speculation.

 

[coast2coast7390]

it has no bacteria so its neither cured or uncured so the rock would have to build up bacteria by seeding as SaltyDr stated before

 

[coast2coast7390]

i just remembered that i did the same thing i had just over a 2 gallon bucket filled with liverock-dry and i tossed it in to a bucket of saltwater with some about 20lbs of live rock from my tank that crashed...I tested the water every week and noticed that it went through a cycle and used that rock to "jump start" my Pond and then used it to start my dads tank...good stuff live rock

 

[FernanQ]

If it has dead organic matter, it will decompose, and depending on the amount of dead organic matter, might cause an ammonia spike. The source of ammonia in a new tank is the dry fish food, so yeah, your rock might cause an ammonia spike if it hasn't been cured, depending on how much dry dead stuff is on it.

 

[drummereef]

There will most likely be a cycle even though it's base rock. All of the trapped organic matter in the rock will breakdown in the new tank which will cause it to cycle.